Arriving in Seattle on the ferry recently, I paused on the footbridge overpass to contemplate the Viaduct, which will be incredibly difficult to cut into pieces and haul away in dumptrucks. Below, the tracks still passes under the footbridge, but, alas!, we no longer hear the cheery toot of the whistle or the clang of the bell.
In a recent article on Crosscut, Jordon Royer tells us 216 cruise ships brought over 875,000 passengers to Seattle in 2009. It’s a darn shame the Waterfront Streetcar wasn’t there, ready to take hundreds of thousands of boardings and help with Metro’s financial problems. I wonder just how many lines in the city have the potential for over a million boardings in a year?
Why is extending the Waterfront Streetcar not a priority? Cruise ship passengers could see it from the deck of their ship- you wouldn’t even need to advertise.
So many questions. Before departing, I had a cup of clam chowder at Ivar’s. For auld ang syne. Refreshingly, no sentimentalizing was required- a good cup of chowder, a seat viewing the bay- even on an overcast weekday, these were drawing steady business at the chowder stand.
It’s not the people of Seattle who have abandoned their waterfront.
3 comments
Such great articles on the streetcar, why no comments. I really like what you are doing, keep up the good work. It is such a natural to have this streetcar back, good for the development of the waterfront. Where does McGinn come down on this$
Thanks for the thumbs up, maybe most readers think these truths are self-evident and can’t think of anything to say. I haven’t seen McGinn say anything about the Waterfront Streetcar. I’m personally inclined to think that the City Council and the neighborhoods involved are the most likely actors in bringing the streetcar back.
What would George Benson say?
A good meal has great ingrediants……Seattle’s Waterfront has been cheapened by its less ingrediant….a bus dressed as a trolly.
The flavor that has made the Seattle Waterfront more bland.
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